Corporate Volunteering Officer

Salary: £32-35,000 FTE pro rata at 3 days/21 hours per week £19,000-21,000. Days worked will be Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays.
Contract length: 12 months with opportunity for permanent role at the end of contract
Location: Thames21’s main office at the Guildhall, City of London; but we also offer hybrid working
Responsible to: Corporate Volunteering Manager
Working with: Finance Manager, Communications Manager, Project Officers, Thames21 Event Support Staff and Contractors, local authorities, Port of London Authority

About Thames21

Thames21 is an environmental charity putting healthy rivers at the heart of community life. Through environmental improvements, community engagement, education and advocacy we bring about effective and lasting change by working hand-in-hand with communities to deliver tangible and measurable improvements to our network of rivers.

Diversity at Thames21

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Thames21 is key to our success and as such we employ staff from a diverse range of backgrounds, this we feel is key in ensuring that everybody has an equal opportunity and is not treated differently or discriminated against because of their characteristics. We value the voices of our individual employees, and we strive to work in a collaborative, innovative balanced way. The postholder must actively support this.

Purpose of the job

The purpose of this role is to develop, plan and lead river clean-up and restoration activities for corporate volunteer teams on the riverbanks and in-channel on the Thames and its tributaries. The Corporate Volunteering Officer provides support to the Corporate Event Leader, working together to plan and ensure smooth operations for corporate volunteering. The postholder will need to be resident in Greater London in order to travel to our sites across London.

Main duties and responsibilities

Working with Corporates:

• Plan and lead circa 60 corporate volunteering activities per year, ensuring participants have an enjoyable and safe experience and learn about the river environment.
• Handle corporate volunteering enquiries and confirm bookings and invoicing in the absence of the Corporate Volunteering Manager.
• Build relationships with corporate clients and potential clients, opening conversations about other team day opportunities and fundraising opportunities for Thames21.
• Send corporate groups relevant joining information and risk assessments by email ahead of their volunteering event.

Working with colleagues and external stakeholders:

• Work with the other Event Leader to plan and share delivery of corporate volunteering events.
• Support the Corporate Volunteering Manager to generate communications that promote corporate volunteering, highlighting stories, successes, and photos from events to share.
• Maintain effective communication with landowners or relevant site contacts to ensure ongoing access to site and any necessary equipment for corporate volunteering activities.
• Where necessary, liaise with the Corporate Volunteering Manager to ensure that all corporate partnerships are ethical and appropriate, and pose no risk to the charity’s reputation and work.
• Follow internal processes to report on training and performance Event Support Contractors.

Development of corporate volunteering activities:

• Liaise with Thames21 colleagues, local councils, community groups, and governmental organisations (EA) to seek new river locations and activities for corporate volunteering events on the Thames and tributaries throughout Greater London. This will include identifying and leading group restoration projects.

Event planning and delivery:

• Book, plan, prepare for and lead circa 60-80 river clean-up and restoration events a year on the Thames and its tributaries: including scheduling the activity, conducting pre-event visits and risk assessments, preparing equipment, loading and unloading vans, event set-up and break-down, cleaning, sorting and maintaining equipment post-event.
• Decide with the other Event Leader on the events that they will be working on and ensure that they are well informed on the plan for works and health and safety guidelines
• Book events for Thames21 freelance event leaders as needed in absence of Corporate Volunteering Manager.
• Book and oversee Event Support Contractors (ESC) to assist in pre-event preparation, event delivery, and pack-down.
• Conduct risk assessments for each event, ensuring information is up to date and accurate and always comply with Thames21 Health & Safety protocols
• Plan equipment and vans requirements for corporate volunteering activities, using Thames21 processes to ensure equipment and vans are booked and available in a timely fashion
• Liaise with river landowners and stakeholders e.g. Port of London Authority, local authorities and others on permissions and waste clearance.

Administration:

• Use corporates’ own charity/event online platforms to record bookings and impacts from corporate volunteering events.
• Organise Event Support Contractors (ESC) newsletter monthly and liaise with operational staff about the upcoming needs for ESCs.
• Manage Event Support Contractors (ESC) scheduling and invoice approval.
• Manage the corporate volunteering van, undertaking regular checks, necessary maintenance, and MOTs.
• Update the Operations Manager and Corporate Volunteering Manager on any near misses or accidents occur. Follow Thames21 protocol for near misses and accidents.

Other duties

This job description cannot cover every issue or task that may arise within Thames21. At various times the post-holder will be directed to carry out other reasonable duties in support of other Thames21 activities that are consistent with those in this Job Description.

For more information and how to apply, please visit the our website.

This role is ideal for those who:

• Enjoy leading and motivating large groups of people in outdoor environmental activities
• Enjoy working independently, making decisions and taking responsibility
• Are comfortable flexing with change
• Can drive across London in a long wheel-base van
• Are happy to work in a role which comprises of both desk work and outdoor work
• Want to deliver positive change on London’s rivers as part of a friendly, committed and ambitious environmental charity.

Additional Information

• The post holder must be willing to occasionally work in the evening and at weekends
• 25 days paid annual leave are available pro rata plus public holidays.
• Thames21 office is closed between Christmas and New Year.
• Thames21 operate a flexitime system of working.
• Thames21 have an ‘Auto Enrol’ Workplace Pension Scheme with NEST.
• Thames 21 benefits from a workplace union with IWGB
• 24/7 access to our employee assistance programme
• Laptop & Mobile phone for company use.

For more information and a copy of the Job Description on Thames21, please visit our website.

The closing date for applications is: 5pm, 8th December 2026

Interview dates: 14th December 2026

We appreciate the time you will have taken to apply to this role, and we do appreciate that it is disconcerting when you don’t hear back from a role you have applied for. However, due to the high number of applications we expect to receive, we are unable respond to or give feedback on individual applications, but we do want to be able manage expectations. Therefore, if you do not hear from us within 4 weeks of the closing date, please assume that your application has not been successful on this occasion.